A fair comparison is needed

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fosters.com

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Posted May. 29, 2014 at 3:15 AM

Posted May. 29, 2014 at 3:15 AM

A bachelor’s degree for $10,000 or one for $120,000?

Seems like an easy choice. Or is it?

Southern New Hampshire University’s College for America is offering a bachelor’s degree for only $10,000. Meanwhile, in-state students heading to the University of New Hampshire this fall will pay just under $30,000 a year to get started on their journey to a four-year bachelor’s degree.

At first glance such a deal seems too good to be true. And for some it is. That’s because there is some fine print that must be read.

SNHU is targeting a niche market of potential graduates who have garnered some of life’s experiences and now want credit for those experiences in seeking a degree.

Explains The Associated Press:

“Like the Manchester school’s existing associate degree program, the new program is offered through employers and has no traditional classes, instructors or grades. Instead, students work through material at their own pace and are evaluated on their mastery of skill areas. Advisers point them to free documents and other learning material, and students are encouraged to work with each other.”

So why try to compare SNHU’s $10,000 degree with a much more expensive one from UNH?

Because if history is any judge, it is a comparison being made by many who just read the headlines (or write them).

“That’s $10,000 for the whole degree, not per year,” excitedly proclaims Business Week.

“The $10,000 Bachelor’s Degree Arrives,” announces Infodgree.com.

While such programs have their place they are not for everyone, as is also the case with online degree programs for which SNHU has become known and lauded.

College is much more than a set of grades and a diploma. How many college graduates can even find their diplomas after a few years out in the “real world?” And after a while, what employer even asks for your college transcripts?

We are willing to bet memories of and experiences from those college days beyond the classroom are etched firmly in many a temporal lobe and will be there until the day you die.

Rushing a sorority, being on a sports team vying for a championship or taking part in a save-the-environment march — these experiences and more are what make up the college years.

And, what’s more, they build character and shape lives.

We are not about to argue that everyone can or should try to pony up the money it takes to attend UNH or any other comparable university.

However, it is critically important that when weighing the options parents and students make an apples to apples comparison.

For some, a quick path to a degree is the best choice. For others the brick and mortar of a UNH can best pave the way.